Spell of Four Year 1  Great Compromises
by Sir Weston
Summary: Hope Potter is entering her first year at Hogwarts with her cousin Jem and two more she met on the train. But, due to a screw up with the sorting hat, the four are separated into the opposite of the house they should be in! Most characters are OCs. R&R!


**Year 1: Great Compromises**

**I have no idea how I thought of this. I wanted to write a fanfiction of four new students at Hogwarts, each from a different house, who were friends. Then I got the idea to do a sorting screw up and, ah well, you'll just have to read to find out.**

**Anyway, I want to do seven stories, one for each year, featuring the four friends. So enjoy.**

**Chapter 1 – The Hogwarts Express Fiasco**

Hope Potter stood anxiously with her parents, staring at the huge, scarlet red locomotive that was the Hogwarts Express. She squeezed her mother's hand. Her mother was not Ginny, that was her Great grandmother. Her mother's name was Grace. Hope was the great granddaughter of the famous Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley (who were still alive.) It was time for Hope to enter her first year at Hogwarts.

She looked up at her mother. "D' ye think I'll get into Gryffindor like my great grandparents?" she asked.

"Hopefully," Grace replied, "It's up to you, y' know. Your father was in Hufflepuff, and he was James's son. He said it suit him more." She smiled at Hope. "I know you'll do great in which ever house you're put in."

Hope smiled at her mother. Hope had long, straight dark red hair and bright green eyes. Like any descendant of a Weasley, she had freckles that spotted her nose. She took a deep breath and heard a sound behind her, and spun around.

A tall, flaming haired kid was approaching her, and Hope knew who it was. It was her cousin, Jem Weasley. Jem was Ron and Hermione's great grandson. Like every Weasley, he had flaming red hair and freckles dotted his face. Jem was very intelligent, and, like Hope, he was about to start his first year at Hogwarts.

"I thought I'd see you here," Jem told his cousin with a smirk. Though they were cousins, it was a known fact between the two families that Hope and Jem were not particularly fond of each other. This was because ever since they met they always ended up arguing and calling each other names.

Jem was a lot smarter than Hope, rather like Hermione, but Hope was a whole lot braver. Hope was absolutely sure that Jem would be put in Ravenclaw, while she was hoping to be in Gryffindor. And she didn't care what Harry (who had gone just a bit loony, and was going blind in his right eye) told her; she would not be happy if she was put into Slytherin, was always had a bad reputation.

Hope forced herself to smile at her cousin. "So, Jem," she said, forcefully, "Did you come with your parents?"

"Nope," he replied, frowning a little, "Why would they? They're so busy with the Ministry these days, why should they be bothered to send their only son off to his first year of school? I'm here with my great grandparents." He gestured to Ron and Hermione who were talking to Harry and Ginny, who had come to see Hope off.

"Oh," Hope said, a little guilty. Not only were her parents here, her grandparents and great grandparents were here. She knew that both of Jem's parents worked for the Ministry of Magic and were hardly ever around.

"So," Jem said, changing the subject, "Do you reckon McGonagall has found a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher yet?"

The old teacher had retired last year, and frankly everyone had been surprised about how long he had lasted. The job seemed to be jinxed, even after Harry and his friends had left, as no one really lasted more than a year.

"Er, I think she has," Hope replied, doubtfully, "I don't know who it is, though. No one has heard any news."

A loud whistle interrupted her and both their families rushed over to them. "All right, dear," Hope's father said, "We got all of your things onto the train for you. Your grandfather did most of the lifting. Amazing how youthful he seems."

"I'm not that old," James Sirius snapped at his son, "If you bothered to work out your muscles a little instead of always using magic, you'd be able to do some heavy lifting too."

"Don't forget your rat," Ginny reminded Hope, holding out a small cage. Hope stared in surprise at it. Ginny and Harry smiled.

"An early birthday gift," Harry told her, his sightless eye on her, "We knew you had been talking about wanting a rat for a long time. We were going to give this to you for your birthday, but seeing as it's in the middle of the year, we thought we'd give him to you now."

"Thanks you two!" Hope exclaimed, hugging them both.

"We thought you'd like it," Ginny said.

The rat was quite large and was white with black splotches. It stared at her with tiny black eyes.

"We've got something for you, Jem," Hermione said, turning to her great grandson.

"We know it's kind of late," Ron added, handing Jem a large cage, "But we hope you like it." He pulled off the sheet that had been covering the cage and Jem gasped.

A handsome barn owl was sitting in the cage, blinking in the sudden light. Jem's hands were shaking as he took the cage from Ron. "Th-thank you," he stuttered.

As they all stood there, becoming emotional, Hope's mother glanced at the clock. "Good heavens!" she exclaimed, "Hurry! We've got to get you on board or they'll leave with out you!"

There was a mad rush as Jem and Hope were hustled onto the train and bid farewell. They watched the adults fade out of sight before turning to go find a compartment. Most places were full, but they found an empty compartment near the back of the train. They sat down and Hope immediately opened the rat's cage and took him out.

"Have you thought about what you're going to name your rat?" Jem asked her, poking his fingers through his owl's cage to stroke his feathers.

"Yes," Hope replied, "I'll call him Peter. I heard Harry speak of a Peter Pettigrew who could change into a rat once. He must've been a really cool wizard!"

Jem shrugged and went back to stroking his owl. "I'm going to call this handsome fellow Soren," he announced, "It suits him."

Hope was about to respond when the door suddenly opened and a boy and a girl entered. The boy was rather tall with smooth blond hair and dark blue eyes that Hope found uncomfortable. The girl, on the other hand, had shoulder length wavy muddy blond hair, and brown eyes that were full of cheer.

"Do you mind if we sit here?" the boy wondered, "We've been walking up and down the train for a while now, and every where else is full."

"We don't mind," Hope replied, though the boy's eyes still unnerved her, "Do we, Jem?"

Jem, who had dug into his bag to pull out a book, shook his head. The blond haired boy sat down next to him while the girl sat next to Hope. She smiled at Hope and she smiled back.

"My name's Helga," the girl introduced to her, "Helga Lupin. Pleased to meet you."

"Hope," she said, "Hope Potter. Harry Potter is my great granddad." As Helga and the boy looked surprised, she gestured at her cousin. "That's my cousin, Jem Weasley. Well, I guess he's actually my second cousin, or something."

"Well," said the blond boy, "My great granddad told me all about Harry Potter. He went to school with him. My name's Gene Malfoy."

Gene tapped the side of his head and Hope wondered why. "Don't worry," he told Hope and Jem, "I won't hate you before I get to know you."

"I'm so relieved," Jem muttered, his nose buried in a book.

"Do you two know each other?" Hope asked Helga. She shook her head.

"Just met him," She said, "We both couldn't find anywhere to sit. So here we are. Can I pet your rat?"

Hope looked at Peter and nodded. Helga took up the rat and held him near her face. Peter squirmed out of her hand and onto her shoulder, sticking his little nose in her ear. She started giggling wildly. "His whiskers tickle!" she gasped.

Hope smiled. She hoped that she would get in the same house as this girl, she rather liked her. She cleared her throat. "So, what house do you hope to get into?"

"I hope I get into Slytherin," Gene answered almost immediately, "All my family and ancestors were in Slytherin, and I want to do my dad proud. But I guess I wouldn't mind too badly if I get into Ravenclaw; they're usually pretty bright. But I think my great granddad would fly into a rage if I was put in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. My granddad doesn't think very highly of those two houses."

"I hope I'm in Hufflepuff," Helga said, "They're very loyal and mum says they're usually more fun loving. I don't like people saying how only dumb people go to Hufflepuff, though."

"My dad was in Hufflepuff," Hope remembered her mother telling her, "And he's a great wizard. As for me, I personally hope I'm put in Gryffindor. That's what most of my family was in, and I think Gryffindor will be the best. Also, my favorite color is red."

"What about you, Jem?" Helga asked, turning to Hope's cousin.

Rather annoyed that he could not read with so much talking, Jem shut his book. "I wouldn't mind being in Ravenclaw, though Gryffindor wouldn't be bad either. I'm sure I'll be put in Gryffindor. _All_ Weasleys are put into Gryffindor."

"My mum told me that your choice sometimes help the Sorting Hat choose which house you should be in," Hope told them.

At that moment the treat cart came and the four of them bought as many treats as they could afford. Hope hadn't had time to eat that morning, as she had overslept. They ate their treats in silence, and Jem had gone back to reading his book, which Hope noticed was one of the schoolbooks they had bought in Diagon Alley. She shook her head as she munched on a pumpkin pasty. Jem always loved studying, but was very insensitive, even saying that Hope was "dumber than a sack of turnips" on her seventh birthday, making her cry.

As evening fell, the four put on their Hogwarts robes silently, their anticipation of reaching the school making them too excited to talk. As they got closer and closer, Hope put Peter back in his cage, slipping in a cheese flavored Bertie Bott's bean she had nibbled on into his cage so he could eat it. The conductor had just announced that they would be arriving at Hogwarts in ten minutes when the door to their compartment opened.

A sandy haired boy with large front teeth, wide hazel eyes, and a small face stood there. When Helga saw him, she gasped. "Adrian! What are you doing here? You're a muggle!"

**Gasp! What's that? A muggle on the train to Hogwarts? That's right. I'm pretty sure my original idea had been that a wizard had a muggle friend who followed him or her to Hogwarts, but I only just remembered it.**

** Anyway, in case you're wondering about how McGonagall and Harry and his friends are still alive, it's very simple: unless someone is killed, people in Harry Potter's world seem to live a really long time. I mean look at Dumbledore and Flitwick! They taught fifty years ago when Voldemort was still at school, and they were old then.**

** Anyway, like I said, this fanfiction is going to be a seven part series, for each year. Next chapter I Helga explains who the muggle is and they get sorted into their houses. But before that, please read and review. Thanks!**


End file.
